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Show SALT FLAT NEWS, MARCH, 1975 the Lapland Longspur to the Semipal mated Sandpiper and the Scissor-taile- d Flycatcher. Fish is the Springs only place in Utah where the greater sandhill crane is known to nest. Bird watchers can pick up a free waterfowl identification guide at refuge headquarters and, for no admission fee, take a e tour along the dike roads. For picnickers, theres a d area with improved fireplaces; ovemighters may stay at a campground in the nearby foothills. If youre a history buff, take note that Fish Springs, like most place names along the old Lincoln Highway, was once a watering spot for pony express riders and later a stage station on the first transcontinental highway Although the- old buildings are gone, portions of the historic road can still be seen east of the present road. Usually, theres someone in or near the headquarters building to greet visitors, but if you show up with an empty gas can in hand, dont expect much sympathy. Mr. Kraft points out that its against the law for him 11 self-guid- tree-shade- - . Fish Springs manager Rolf Kraft cuddles Lenny the Swan. Lenny had the misfortune of being shot down recently , but now he's recovering at the country 's most remote wildlife refuge. to sell government gasoline, arid '& . people think its the second Siberia, says Rolf Kraft of the national wildlife refuge at Fish Springs, Utah. His job as manager of the countrys most remote refuge suits him fine, however, and if he has a complaint, its people who habitually mispell his name as Ralph Croft, or the recent letter, he got addressed to the Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuse. Because it's more than sixty miles from the nearest paved road, sightseers rarely make a special trip to see Fish Springs; most of his visitors, says Kraft, just happen to discover it Many are surprised to come upon an 18,000 acre marsh in the middle of sage and black rock country. The marsh is irrigated by four large springs, blue-gree- n pools warmed by mother earth and populated by white fish, frogs, and muskrats. The springs arent framed by bleached bones, but the manager advises desert travelers to resist the impulse to jump . into waterholes. During world war, soldiers on leave from nearby Dugway often amused themselves by pot shooting at beer bottles, and the bottom of the pools are littered with broken glass. Add to that, the water is officially classified as brackish. And on top of everything else, you might get eaten by a frog. The frogs were - imported from Little Rock, Arkansas, forty years ago by trapper James Harrison, who ran a ranch at Fish Springs until he sold it to the government in 1959. The idea was to sell frog legs to restaurants in Ogden and Salt Lake, but since the marsh has become protected habitat, the frogs have been free to multiply and grow. Trapper Am, who still lives at Fish Springs, reports having seen frogs as long as inches. twenty-tw- o But for the most part, Fish Springs is for the birds. Since I960, 166 different species have been seen on the refuge, ranging from the Common'Snipe to the Yellow-bellie- d Sapsucker, . from although he keeps a separate supply on hand for personal use, he promises to be as unaccommodating as possible in filling your tank. Some other people who help keep Fish Springs ducky are biological technician Mike Perkins, Irl Timm of Callao, Utah, and Russell Hoffman of, Trout Creek. Dave Kirkby, a Bureau of Land Management man, keeps an eye on the federal land next door. At this time of year, while many of the birds are warming their feathers in a southern dime, most of the refuge work is routine maintenance. But recently, there was some exdtement when a swan named Lenny was gunned down over Trout Creek. Lenny was carried to the refuge with a broken wing, and for a while it looked as if they were playing, his song. With Rolf and Mike standing by as nurse and anesthetist, Irl deftly performed emergency surgery on the wing, and now Lenny appears to be on tiie mend. Irl, meanwhile, is enjoying a minor reputation hereabouts as a quack doctor. Come spring, the crew will be busy dredging canals and digging doughs to keep the marshlands wet. The idea is to keep as much land as possible under a sheet of flowing water, and to this end, they have .the help of a few thousand muskrats. In some (daces, the manager has refilled man-mad- e ditches and let- - natures engineers have their way. These muskrats are pretty good workers, wrote Rolf in his monthly report, but they require a lot of supervision. . Biological technician Mike Perkins draws a bead on a flock of birds with a telescope. Counting ducks is one of the regular chons at Fish Springs, and Mike has learned, to count them by the high-power- ed NEWS photo by R. Mtniiw Once an army truck , war surplus vehicle is now part of the Fish Springs motorpooL Angus, the dog in the driver's seat, is too young to drive, but he comes in handy for retrieving wounded ducks from ' the marsh. Is the World Coming io an End? (Continued from page 5) So thats how dose we are to this disaster for which we have to be prepared with a great storage program. And these dozen or so cities that have to be built have to be stockpiled with food and equipped with industries to make them And misto be the thats supposed sion of this wealth. self-sustainin- g. SALT FLAT NEWS: But what happens to the rest of the country? Well, the brunt of that solar flare strikes right here. Obvious- ly, on the dark tide of the earth it wouldnt be as bad. And the Bible speaks of them being scorched, but here we get burnt up. Following this great burning, theres no more drought. The rains come back in moderation, early rains and late rains. When we bump into a planet that the ten bribes are on, its supposed to readjust the whole topography of the earth, so that the Great Salt Lake would no longer be a salt lake. Itd be a fresh water lake, with the drainage possibly into the Snake River and the Columbia, and the Pacific. And the same would be true with the great salt lake in Palestine. It would be hoisted up to a point well above sea level, so it could have a. drainage in the Gulf of Acaba or in the Mediterranean, and it would become a fresh water lake. So what happens to the Salt Flat News about that time? SALT FLAT NEWS: I'm not sure. Mr. Pierce, when we last spoke with you, you were living in Salt Lake City. How does it happen that you are now living in Spanish Fork? Oh, when I published the dream mine book, my wife, who was thoroughly church-bounand frowns on anything they d, frown on, told me if I published this book she would divorce me. And I told her I felt it was my mission to publish it, and that I was going to. Anyway so when I went to the printer, she went to the lawyer. And I had to jget out, and naturally, this is the place I would rather take to, 'because I want to be where the action. is going to be. And this is a nice location and, I think, one of the safest communities in the whole world. SALT FLAT NEWS: Thank you, Mr. Pierce. . |